Stay With Me
by catnap69
Summary: Written for LiveJournal's Secret Santa ficathon. House always tried to distance himself from Cameron but when his old team are pulled in to help him with a case, will all that change? Set in season 4.


**SECRET SANTA FIC-A-THON FIC:**

House brought his corvette to an abrupt stop, feeling the tires skid slightly on the thickening ice below. He always hated this weather and not because it was always cold to the point of making his nose redder than a freakin' tomato, or because everyone in the world seemed to make scorching hot drinks 24/7 - the concept of which baffled him, whatever happened to just getting pissed on the holiday? Now it was all about _cocoa_ - it was always dramatically hindered his ability to drive his 'Vette and what was the point of having such a delicious piece of machinery if it wasn't on display for all the world to see?

After pulling swiftly into his parking space and turning off the ignition, House opened his door and was greeted with a thick wall of icy air, travelling up the skin of all of his limbs and causing goose-bumps to appear making him pull the lapels of his overcoat closer together in a futile attempt to banish the cold. He swore he could actually feel the temperature dropping a few notches during the couple of seconds in which he stood stationary. Bending his head to try to shield himself, House headed toward the awaiting hospital doors, the wind blowing his short and slightly graying hair all over the place. House could practically feel the sting of the wind against his exposed cheeks, having to keep a close check as to where he was placing his cane, fully aware of the small yet frequently scattered patches of ice.

Once the glistening entrance doors opened before him, House relished in the warmth that met him. The greeting room bustling with busy nurses and doctors and the clinic patients, the lights bordering on blinding compared with the darkened grey of the winter sky outside. Drawing in a deep breath, House felt relieved that he was inside before his fingers went numb again, the relief fading quickly though as he saw Cuddy making a determined bee-line straight for him through the masses of patients and children. House snapped his head from side to side trying to find a plant to hide behind or a child to take hostage. Finding nothing, House accepted his inevitable fate.

"House."

Squeezing his eyes shut, House wondered why the ceiling couldn't have just caved in on him.

"Is it me or do you turn up for work later and later each day?"

"Well, is it me or does the neck line of your shirts travel further and further south each day?"

Sending an only moderately harsh glare in his direction, Cuddy half turned and stalked toward the nurses station.

"Get some of your paperwork done for once, I'm still waiting for your insurance forms to get back to me."

Making sure that she could see him, House rolled his eyes and limped his way over to the elevator, pausing or having to side step to avoid small children on suger-highs, distressed parents and a couple of men talking to each other wearing Santa suits.

Once he was safely within the confines of an empty elevator carriage, House closed his eyes and let his head fall back to the wall behind him and thought that it was really too bad that he didn't have his own pair of ruby slippers so he could just wish that he was at home, or in a bar, or anywhere but there really.

His eyes opened as the elevator jerked to a stop and the doors opened, exposing him to the same level of noise and crappy Christmas cheer as downstairs in the lobby. After tredding on a few toes and his elbow meeting someone's ribs several times, House finally made it, relatively safely, to the conference room.

Finally, he thought some semblance of normality and none of this Christmas shit.

Pushing open the glass door, House stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening as they followed every new aspect in his once recognizable office, including the tinsel following the outer line of his white board and the edge of the conference table, the small sized yet highly musical Santa that sat in the center of the table danced as Chase seemed to be having a ball trying to catch one of his rapidly moving arms and failing miserably, his eyes wide with wonder and huge childish grin on his face while Cameron and Foreman sat around the table with him going by their daily routine. Next to the Santa lay a large bowl which was filled to the brim with red and white striped candy canes, that was what really caught his attention.

Raising his eyebrows, House's eyes shot immediately to Cameron who had her nose buried in her computer and hadn't even looked up when House had entered. It was the first time that House had fully noticed the way that everyone was sitting - or more precisely the fact that Chase had chosen the seat directly next to Cameron's and had nudged it closer to her side a couple of notches since House came in. Chase's arm lay on the glass table near her elbow and House could tell by the way that his fingers were twitching slightly that he was practically working up enough courage to even touch her.

House was taken aback by the overpowering feeling of jealousy that seemed to grab hold of him just from the knowledge of Chase's much closer proximity to Cameron. This feeling triggered off the memory of him finding the two of them together in the store closet. House had to curl his fingers into his palm to keep himself from hitting the younger doctor at the thought that he had touched her.

Biting the inside of his mouth, House became aware of the fact that Foreman was looking at him with an odd expression on his face and realised that he, in turn, must have been staring at Chase or Cameron. Clearing his throat, House rapidly changed the subject.

Glancing back at Cameron, House spoke directly to her. "So, did you buy the candy canes just to mock me again? Didn't you hurt me enough last time?"

With an exaggerated sniffle, House closed his eyes and placed his hand on his chest, a hurt looking on his face.

Cameron finally looked up from the screen on her laptop and her eyes met his over the glasses perched on the end of her nose. Raising her head and meeting his gaze head on Cameron flicked a strand of long blond hair over one shoulder and her lips curved up in an unintentionally seductive smile making her mouth seem even more luscious and kissable.

"Well, I went around to all the stores and tried to find candy syringes or school books or even wheelchairs or anything else on the planet but I guess that the manufacturers just find it so much easier - not to mention more _fun_ - to mock those with canes, so there really wasn't much that I could do about it."

House had to clench all of the muscles in his face to keep from smiling. Keeping his eyes on hers House relished in the warmth that spread throughout his body just from the mischievous smile playing on her face. He decided that he actually really liked the new hair, he thought the blond looked sexy compared to her other colorings. While he thought that the dark brunette hair that she's had when he'd first hired her, House reckoned that the blond was definitely a keeper. Sadly for him though, her hair now being blond and having a slightly different curl to it, made House want to run his fingers through it even more than he did do before, which was a dangerous prospect for him. The way that she was smiling at him wasn't good either, it just reminded him of what it felt like to have her small body pressed to his, to have those lips moving on his, how soft they were, how her hands felt on him, all of this and more caused the reaction the he had been worried about from the second he walked into the conference room, causing the crotch of his jeans feel _way_ to tight for him comfort.

Cameron's eyes flickered down to the lower half of his body before shooting back up to his again, the knowing smile on her lips telling him that she already knew what he was reminiscing about. And that it didn't bother her in the least.

The more than slightly heated glances moving between the two of them hadn't gone un-noticed as proved by Foreman when he cleared his throat awkwardly and shifted in his chair obviously trying to let them know that there were still others in the room.

Tearing his gaze away from Cameron, House turned to Foreman and inadvertently met Chase's. House was almost proud of the confused look on his face, his eyes moving between the two of them as if trying to figure out what the hell was going on in here. House couldn't blame him; he knew that he still wanted Cameron even after their disastrous so called 'relationship', considering the fact that he wanted to actually _be_ with her and Cameron only wanted to _screw_ him, House didn't know how the Australian didn't see it coming. Still, House felt a pang of pity for him, especially since it was clear to everyone in the hospital just how hard he had been trying with her, but apparently she was having none of it. Poor kid.

"What are you guys even doing here anyway? You are aware that you don't actually work here right? Miss me that much did ya'?"

The conference room was deathly silent and awkward glances were exchanged between them all for a second until Foreman finally spoke.

"Cuddy rang us. She said that you had a difficult case and could do with some help; apparently your new team isn't quite working out for you. Although I've met one of your 'prospects'... what was her name? 13! That was it! She's a cutie House. I would be _very_ pleased to have her on my team, aren't you?"

House's eyes moved over to Cameron just as she'd lowered them to stare at her computer once more, but not quickly enough. He'd already seen the flash of pain and disappointment there and wished that he could shove his cane down Foreman's throat for saying something so stupid, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't do any good. He knew that Foreman was just baiting him and trying to see what reaction he could get, sadly though the reaction he got was one of pain and from Cameron.

House decided that it was time to get off the subject before it even began and claimed "I don't even have a case right now, so Cuddy has been a naughty little girl and has been tell you porkies, so you can just go straight back to her and tell her that..."

House's words trailed off as Cameron pushed an off-yellow paper case file toward him, keeping her eyes trained on the computer in front of her and refusing to meet his gaze. As House reached forward to pick up the file, he noticed that her hand retreated faster and more suddenly than usual as if afraid that she would touch him by accident. It was such a blow to his system especially since he could still picture the softly smiling little vixen that she seemed to have been only minutes ago.

Flipping through the file, House agreed that they could work on this one and only this one, and expressed his distaste for the fact that Cuddy seems to think that his new 'team' aren't capable of this case and made a note to himself to make sure that he doesn't mention 13 to Cameron again since he didn't think that she would believe he wasn't interested in her - short of actually telling her that he hadn't been interested in a woman since her, and he wasn't prepared to do that just yet. He'd wait until absolutely necessary for such extreme measures.

He should never have agreed to let them work on this case again, it was worse than it was before. Except that back then he could just pretend that whenever she looked up at him that she was the one that started staring first and he was merely rebutting. But now, now it was just House unable to help himself and staring at her, not caring that Foreman and Chase were looking at him and seeing what he was doing. Now that she seemed to want nothing to do with him, now that she was the one who was distancing herself from him, he was turning into the needy one. He was the one that seemed to be putting so much effort into trying to get her attention, trying to get her to look at him.

All through their differential diagnosis' he watched everything she did, the way she avoided all eye contact with him when she spoke out about her suggestions, how she seemed to fiddle with her pen without even knowing it. He didn't think that it would have bothered her this much, knowing that he had a new and attractive female 'Duckling'. Not that he would ever refer to her as being so. They were the ducklings, it wasn't right that he had others. But her reaction startled him, he wanted to know why she was acting this way. He knew why, he just wanted to hear her say it. This kind of need for validation was just something else that pissed him off that day and by the end of it he was practically climbing the walls instead of going to speak to her.

The office had darkened and the only light came from the glow of the most recent episode of 'General Hospital' that played out on House's television. Feet propped up on a box of old and therefor uninteresting case files, House lay back, eyes half closed and looking like he was ready for sleep. She hated to disturb him but she also hated having to leave without saying goodbye. Reaching out with one tentative hand, Cameron gave the door a slight push and entered slowly, afraid that he would tell her to leave. There was an painfully long moment when House's eyes finally made their way from the screen to hers yet there was a pang of pleasure inside her when she saw the slight sparkle that appeared there when he first saw her. Cameron still didn't know what to do with her hands, anything that she did, she knew that House would look into it and see that she was fiddling all the time to keep her hands from reaching out to him.

She wanted to touch him. He knew it. He wanted her to as well, just to feel her one last time. It felt like they were saying goodbye forever, that they were never going to see each other again, that this was it. House still couldn't decide if he wanted her to never come back. If she stayed away then god knows it would be better for her, but he would have to go through every day carrying the knowledge that she's gone with him, but if she stayed, then he knew that he would cave. He would have to. The past few years have been hard enough but he always had the 'I'm your boss' excuse to fall back on - not that 'I'm twice your age' didn't work well for him at least, even if she wasn't satisfied with that one - but now she is no longer his employee and he knew full well that she didn't give a damn about the fact that he was older. Hell if he was honest he didn't care either but it was a way of making sure that he never made the mistake he did with Stacy again.

Yet still looking up into her eyes, into that sea of erotic blues and pale greens, he wanted to give in to her. Give her what she wants, what he wants. Just to hold her for one night and then pray to god that he would be able to give her up again after.

Those eyes blinked at him and he realized that he had found his perfect excuse, his perfect way to keep her away from him. She thought that he was taken. She thought that he now belonged to 13, that it was her that he wanted now. She didn't cheat on her husband when she was in love with his best friend and she wasn't going to say that it was okay for House to cheat on one woman just to return her love. No matter how much she wanted it. Needed it.

There was still that pain in his chest though. The pain that he had felt twice before when she turned away from him. It hurt more than he imagined this time around, and he knew it was because she really wouldn't try for him anymore. Fight for him. Not as long as she still thought of 13 as being with him. House watched the turn of her heel as if watching a movie scene in slow motion, he heard every slid of the rubber sole, he saw every fiber on the carpet twist and turn beneath her feet.

A series of small steps later and Cameron was stood in front of the door from which she came, her small hand placed on the metal handle, fully prepared to walk out and not come back again. To walk away from all the pain that she'd endured there over the past 3 years. To walk away from House. Yet still she felt her hand hesitate and knew that she wasn't ready for this. He may be a bastard and cruel and uncaring but she still loved him, she still saw who he really was, saw the man inside the gruff doctor. And she liked him. She loved him. And there was no way in hell that she was just going to give up on him just because some ' newbie' decided that she wanted to 'do' her boss. Tightening her grip around the cold metal beneath her fingers, Cameron straightened her shoulders and turned back toward House. To tell him that she still wanted him. Still needed him. Instead though all she could do was utter a small cry of shock as she turned and bumped straight into the solid wall of House's chest.

Before she could say anything, House had already grabbed hold of Cameron's upper-arms and pulled her body against his. Cameron felt her breasts crushed against House's chest before his lips came swiftly down to claim hers. The softness of his lips against the roughness of the two day old scruff on his chin and cheeks was enough to make Cameron go dizzy. Reaching her arms up, she curled her arms around his neck and clung on for dear life. She needed to get closer, desperate for the contact and more of what he was already doing to her. Twining her fingers with his hair, Cameron tightened her grip and heard a faint hissing sound of pain somewhere in the distance.

House's hand traveled down Cameron's back and made it's way up the back of her shirt. He had never felt anything so soft in his life, it was just pure, pale, unblemished skin, and so much of it for his taking. Removing his lips from Cameron's, House noted the way that she attempted to prolong the contact and followed his lips with hers. Breathing heavily, they both tried to catch their breath, his forehead dropping to hers, able to breath in her scent from there. House continues to rub the small of her back in small circles as she closed her eyes and leaned her head against his rapidly rising and falling chest. A muffled sound came from against him and pulling her away slightly House looked down into her glazed over eyes and seeing everything that he had ever wanted there.

"What?"

The request to repeat what she's said didn't bother as much as the way he said it. It was so tender, so unlike him.

Cameron moved the tip of her tongue over her parched lips and almost smirked at the hungry look in House eyes as he followed movement.

"Why? Why now?"

The look on his face indicated that House saw the question coming at some point. She really thought that he was going to shut down, to tell her that this was all a mistake and that they should never do it again but instead with him looking into her eyes, all she saw was love.

"Because I'm not your boss anymore and because plenty of women date older men."

_FINALLY!_ He's finally getting what she's been saying all along. It may make her a bad person but she didn't think of 13 again once as she leaned further into him and took his lips with hers once again, when she moved her hands beneath his shirt or even when she had to stop House before he ended up taking off her bra in the middle of his office.

He was hers now. And she fully intended to keep him, and looking up into his eyes once last time she saw the words that she had been waiting for for far too long.

_Stay._


End file.
